ROCHESTER — The Division I boys basketball tournament starts in one month, which means the Spaulding High School team is short on time if it wants to figure out how to finish a game against a quality opponent.

Unbeaten Manchester Central offered the Red Raiders a lesson in finishing Tuesday night at the Rochester Community Center. In beating Spaulding, 47-37, the Little Green closed out the contest on a 17-2 run over the final 6:22.

“We were trying to force things and that ended up being turnovers for us,” said Spaulding star forward Dominic Paradis of his team’s late-game meltdown. “We should have been looking for the best shot. I don’t think we were doing that.”

Central stayed atop the D-I standings at 12-0, while the Red Raiders had a five-game win streak snapped in slipping to 10-2.

“We had some opportunities in the fourth quarter, but we just didn’t take advantage,” said Spaulding coach Tim Cronin. “We had that lead, but we just couldn’t put them away. And then they got rolling.”

Spaulding broke a 30-all tie to start the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Nick MacGregor 30 seconds in, which turned out to be the team’s only basket of the frame.

Dominic Paradis followed with two free throws at 6:36 to widen the gap to 35-30.

Central guard Dawson Dickson, who netted a game-high 22 points, drained a 3-pointer of his own — his fifth — to cut the lead to 35-33.

After several empty possessions by both teams, a pivotal point in the game reared its head when Central coach David Wheeler was assessed a technical foul after a Spaulding turnover, and was made to sit in his chair for the remainder of the game.

“Our team responded well to that,” Wheeler said. “I was asking another official what the call was and he called a technical foul from the other side of the court. I have no idea what happened.”

With just over five minutes to play, the Red Raiders had two foul shots and the ball. Paradis made one and Spaulding promptly turned the ball over.

Central ended the game on a 14-1 run, including 10 of 10 from the foul line over the final 3:55.

From that technical, Spaulding finished the game shooting 0 for 7 from the floor and had five turnovers.

“I thought the defensive intensity went up,” Wheeler added. “We pressured the ball a little bit more and got some turnovers. Off the turnovers we got some pretty good looks.”

Troy Pelletier, the lone senior in the Little Green lineup, led the finishing surge with eight of his 17 points, including a perfect 6 of 6 from the foul stripe. He had 15 second-half points after netting just two in the first 16 minutes.

Dickson and Pelletier scored 26 of their team’s 30 second-half points, and accounted for 39 of their 47.

It was anybody’s game for the first three and half quarters in a physical, sometimes contentious game.

Spaulding led 8-7 after the first quarter and the Red Raiders were up 19-17 at the half. It was tied at 30-all after three quarters.

Paradis was the only Red Raider in double figures with 11 points, but he made just one basket. MacGregor added seven points and Anthony Ciccotelli scored six points off the bench in the first half.

“It’s definitely disappointing, but we’re going to learn from this,” Paradis added. “We’re going to bounce back next game.”

Pelletier guarded Paradis and every time the Red Raider star drove, a second Central player was there for the double team.

“We pinched the dribble,” Wheeler added. “We’ve been practicing that for a couple of days.”

Cronin noted that the Red Raiders have a tough stretch coming against top tier teams like Merrimack, Bishop Guertin, Nashua South and Manchester Memorial.

“If we want to go anywhere in the tournament, these are teams that we are going to play,” Cronin said. “We’ve got to do a better job. Offensive execution is a big priority for us.”